


Raison d'être

by homoamphibians



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: 4 5 and 6 adventures, 4 5 and 6 hanging out, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers and Umbrella Academy Team Up, Ben Hargreeves Centric, Bisexual Tony Stark, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Dead Ben Hargreeves, Dimension Travel, Everyone Has Issues, Five Ben and Klaus go on an adventure, Five Has No Idea What He's Doing, Gen, Ghost Ben Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Klaus is Confused, Long, Lost in Time, M/M, Multiverse, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Pansexual Klaus Hargreeves, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Post-Season/Series 01, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Ben Hargreeves, Protective Tony Stark, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Tony Stark Has Issues, eventual season 2, middle children going on an adventure, the horror, this work is going to be really fucking long
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26200462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/homoamphibians/pseuds/homoamphibians
Summary: Five just wanted to stop the apocalypse, travel back in time and fix his sister before she could become the destroyer of worlds. He didn't stop and consider the idea that they could end up in a different dimension. And he especially didn't think the people he would be stuck with would be his junkie of a brother and his dead brother's ghost. But here they were.Might as well save this dimension as well, since they have the time.In which Five is addicted to the apocalypse, Klaus is not having a good time, Ben is tired of their shit, and Tony Stark is really fucking confused.
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/Tony Stark
Comments: 69
Kudos: 359





	1. Chapter 1

Blue energy crackled loudly, coursing through the 58 year old's veins as he held tightly to his siblings. 

The temporal power was growing, lashing out and starting the process of sending his siblings to their destination. 

This was unusual. An anomaly. 

Typically, the jump did not drain him so much and typically, everything stayed together but he had never thrown seven people into a time vortex before so it was bound to be different. 

It hurt. 

The temporal energy that coursed through his veins hurt, it felt as though he was on fire. 

He could survive through this. 

Push through the pain. 

Pain did not matter, death did not matter, as long as he got his family home safely. 

He had to do this for them, no matter the fact that spots were appearing at his vision and his body was trembling like a leaf in the wind. 

Failure. 

Five was just a leaf being pushed around by the tornado of time, no control. He had let everyone down. 

"Well fuck," he muttered, his energy draining rapidly from him before the journey finished. 

He could feel some of his siblings already gone but there was no way he could continue the current jump. He could not physically do it. The time stream was fizzling out. There was not enough temporal energy in that stream to support the rest of his family. 

Five was acorning. 

Again. 

He absolutely hated the fact that his father was right. 

There was no solution that involved them sticking together and he had no idea who had already been sent into that time, he couldn't see anything. 

The only solution was a piss poor one, but one he had to take. 

He let out another string of curses as he pushed himself and whoever was left into the nearest stable time stream. 

The ground was rough, as he crashed into it, feeling shards of something embed itself into his legs. 

The smell of ash permeated around him, not to mention the familiar smell of burning flesh. 

Except that shouldn't be familiar here. 

He should have pushed them into the past.

This was supposed to be the past. 

Not the future. 

He could not be where his brain was telling him he was, the smell and the ground being the same was a coincidence. 

After all, he would not make the same mistake twice. 

Five was smarter than this. 

He was smarter than anyone could ever know, he would not make the same fucking mistake he made when he was thirteen. 

He rolled over on his back, ignoring the crunching noise that he did not know the source of but assumed it was from an injury due to the pain that rose up as soon as he moved, and opened his eyes. 

The familiar sight of the barren wasteland he had come to call his home greeted him. 

He was getting sick of the apocalypse. 

\- 

Ben groaned as the time vortex spit them out. 

He lied there motionless on the floor as his energy seemed to fade from him for a moment. 

His stomach quivered in confusion, he placed a hand on it, sighing. 

After a moment, he stood up, looking around. 

Klaus was on the floor, sobbing, being surrounded by ghosts.

He looked like his normal self instead of his past self.

Five was on his back, just staring into space. 

That was it. 

No one else. 

No Vanya. 

No Diego. 

No Allison. 

No Luther.

A cursory glance proved that none of them were anywhere nearby, in fact the only thing nearby seemed to be ghosts which there was a lot of. 

Everything else was destroyed, everyone else dead. 

Which meant that either Vanya was alone or with Diego, Allison, and or Luther. 

Basically, Vanya wasn't with him or Five or Klaus, the only people he trusted to handle his sister. 

So apparently, everything could be even more of a shitshow. 

Good to know. 

He walked over to Five, offering a hand up. 

Nothing, no recognition, no acknowledgement. 

Great. 

So he was back to being dead, also good to know. 

This was really the absolute ideal situation. 

No Vanya, lots of angry ghosts for Klaus, Five dealing with whatever the hell he was dealing with, and Ben not being able to help. 

Once again. 

With another sigh, he walked over to Klaus, "Hey." 

Klaus said nothing, his eyes unfocused, and his hands covering his ears. 

He was having a panic attack, which made sense. 

There were a shit ton of angry ghosts after all, and they were all flocking to Klaus. 

Ben rolled his eyes, glaring at the nearest ghost trying to grab Klaus, "You can't touch him. I, however, can touch you though so if you continue trying to get near my brother, I will fight you. Dying isn't the worst pain in the world and I can prove it to you. That's a promise." 

The ghost just stared at him. 

He stared back. 

Klaus sobbed. 

-

Klaus didn't know exactly what was happening, just that his siblings seemed to be missing, oh and that there were way more screaming ghosts than he had remembered in the past. 

They circled him, closing in on him, clawing at his skin, screaming in his face.

Lamenting about how they were dead. 

Which sucked sure, but death honestly sounded ideal than having to listen to these ghosts bitch. 

Sobriety ended up being a bastard, he had called it, and now all he wanted to do was fade into the ground below him and never come back. 

Was hell under the ground? 

Did hell exist? 

Or was hell just his existence? 

Cause if hell existed, that meant the devil existed and he felt like him and the devil would get along great. 

At least his relationship with the devil had to be better than his relationship with God. 

God was mean. 

A bitch to say the least. 

God and existence was a bitch. 

There were a lot of bitches in his life, but not the fun kind. 

Unfortunate. 

He needed more fun bitches in his life. 

That was a note to invest in. 

Befriend more fun bitches. 

That was going on his to-do list, right after asking Ben if he had ever considered ghost sex. 

The screams seemed to die down a little, or at least they didn't seem as close. 

He opened an eye, testing the waters. 

There were ghosts sure, but none on him. 

The closest one was a couple feet away, rolling in the dirt. 

Well actually, there were multiple ghosts in that pile. 

Was this a ghost orgy? 

Sadly no.

This was a ghost fight. 

And right in the middle of it, was the familiar form of his brother. 

Klaus clapped his hands together in excitement, "Ooh! This is fun!" 

"Klaus. Is Ben here?" Five asked suddenly, tearing Klaus' attention from the ghost fight. 

Klaus grinned, "You can't see him? I guess he's dead again, that sucks. He's here, he's quite busy though." 

"Busy? Doing what?" Five crossed his arms. 

Ben pushed himself out of the fight, crossing his arms as well, "Not a word Klaus." 

"I've been sworn to secrecy, my dearest brother. I can say he's getting quite physical, honestly it's quite shocking to see my baby brother in such a manner. It's scandalous even," Klaus gasped.

Ben rolled his eyes, "I will kick your scrawny sober ass, Klaus." 

He wasn't going to actually. If he could, his brother would have beat up Klaus many years before. 

Empty threat, a fun empty threat, but empty nonetheless. 

"Kinky," Klaus winked. 

Five rolled his eyes, muttering again, "I don't care. So that means three people will be making the trip now. So the calculations for that would have to include..."

"Thanks for that. The first time a sibling believes I'm here and now he thinks I'm doing something sketchy," Ben groaned. 

Klaus shrugged, "I mean, if I had just been allowed to tell him about your ghostly brawl I wouldn't have had to improvise." 

"Do you have to make it weird for me and my favorite brother though?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

Klaus flung himself back into the dirt that was now free of ghosts, "Hey! That's rude. You know I'm your favorite." 

"No. You're not," Ben shook his head. 

Klaus stuck his tongue out, "You're not my favorite either. Diego is my favorite." 

"I know. You've told me several times," Ben smiled slightly. 

Klaus pouted, "You're supposed to get offended and sulk." 

"And take your job? What would you do?" The ghost smirked. 

Klaus gasped. 

The audacity. 

They often teased each other like this, saying that they had favorites and would leave each other if someone else was an option. 

But they both knew it wasn't an option. 

No one wanted a barely sober eccentric gay or an angsty ghost tagging around. 

They had each other, but it was fun to tease. 

Ben was such a tease, all the time. 

He enjoyed calling his brother on it. Pissing Ben off was fun. One of his favorite things to do, besides people. 

A pause. 

Ben sat down next to him, "Do you think this means the others are alone together?" His voice was shaking a bit as he spoke, he was concerned. Upset ghost hours. 

Klaus needed to be Klaus to cheer him up, which luckily for his brother he was practically good at being Klaus. 

One of his many skills, such as juggling, or speaking languages. 

"I fucking hope not. Could you imagine? Luther has it out for Vanya, Allison is the only one who can stop him from not being an asshole but she's Little Mermaiding it up now, not to mention the whole alpha battle going on with Diego and Number One. I'm like the...backbone of this entire family," He started making sand angels, ignoring the concerned look from Ben. 

Ben often had concerned looks, Klaus saw them each time so it was pretty easy to ignore the judgement practically radiating off of him. 

If Ben had a perfume line it would be called "Judgement" or "Emo Mom" or just "Disapproval". All good choices

That was something to add to the to-do list. 

Create a perfume line. 

Maybe Allison could help, she liked those kinds of things. 

Ben glanced down at him, "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Drugs usually. But poor Klaus is off those now so Klaus gets no beauty sleep, not that I need it anyway," he sat up, grinning at Be. 

Ben stared at him, "You need the beauty sleep."

"Ouch," Klaus put a hand on his heart, "Benny, you wound me dearest brother." 

Ben rolled his eyes, a hint of a smile, "Stop being wounded, Five is trying to talk to you." 

His head turned, making eye contact with his smallest older brother. 

"Klaus," Five put on his best 'I'm being serious and I need you to be serious and stop fucking around' face, one that Klaus was quite familiar with. 

He waved his 'hello' hand, "Five. What brings you around to my part of hell?" 

"...Can you make Ben corporeal?" Five asked, the frustration showing in his voice. 

For being the one that's like 'I'm never going to show emotions ever', Five had so many tells. 

It was almost ridiculous. 

Klaus shrugged, turning to Ben, "I mean I could try? How did I do it before?" 

"Not by throwing a bowling ball at me, I'll tell you that. I have no idea, you just have to make sure not to make any of these corporeal as well," Ben also shrugged. 

Rude. 

Klaus smirked, about to bring up the ghost fight when Five interrupted. 

Five tilted his head in the manner he did when studying people, "It seems like your powers automatically activate when in times of distress or high intensity. Therefore, we need to activate them by initiating a time of high intensity." 

"That seems legit," Ben shrugged again. 

Ghost using slang? 

How absolutely shocking. 

Klaus nodded, "No talking in tongues Benny Boy. But yes! This seems correctomundo! Let's get on with the distress!"

"Good," Five pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at Klaus, "Be...distressed I guess." 

Klaus giggled, clapping his hands together. 

This had taken an interesting turn indeed. 

Ben crossed his arms, "No. Absolutely not. Whatever this is needs to stop." 

The disapproval radiated off of him. 

"Shoot me," were the next words to come out of Klaus' mouth. 

Five did so with no hesitation. 

Klaus watched as the bullet fired, ignoring the part of his brain that screamed about war and having to fight back. 

The bullet seemed to move slowly, it had barely moved at all before Ben erupted into what Klaus liked to called the Hentai Kid. 

Hentai Kid grabbed the bullet and threw it on the ground before taking the gun from Five's hand.

The tentacles retreated back into Ben, leaving Ben holding a gun, which he immediately put on safety. 

Ben the worrier. 

"I said no," Ben growled, his jaw clenched. 

Klaus grinned, "It worked! We did it!" 

"Good job both of you. Nice to see you Ben. Grab onto my hands before Klaus runs out of energy," Five smiled slightly before the seriousness overtook his face again. 

Which was unfortunate. 

Five always looked so nice with a smile, him being happy was rare and it was nice to see it. 

Made him look less constipated. 

They all held hands as little Number Five got to work on jumping again. 

Hopefully this time they would reunite with his siblings. So he could once and for all prove that he wasn't some useless junkie. And maybe he could save Vanya from his crazy siblings who mainly wanted to lock her up, cough cough Luther cough cough.

That would not be the case. 

"Well fuck," Five muttered as the blue energy threw them into some alleyway. 

Klaus actually did not recognize this one, which was weird. And possibly meant that Five had sent them to a new part of the world. Which would be interesting. He had always wanted to travel, see the world, try local food. Just immerse himself in some other culture. 

But apparently there wouldn't be time for that. 

"I'm getting a drink. Somebody find me a newspaper, I'll be back in ten minutes max," Five muttered before walking away. 

Ben settled himself onto a nearby dumpster, "Think he means coffee?" 

"You never know with Five, he's a bit of a wild card. Takes after me," Klaus joined his brother on the dumpster. 

Ben rolled his eyes with a small smile showing that he still cared, "Whatever." 

Whatever seemed to sum up this situation, pretty damn well. 


	2. Chapter 2

Klaus was bored to say the least. 

Sure he had a newspaper that he held up as if he was reading it, but he wasn't actually interested in reading it. 

That was Five's job. 

The alleyway was empty of ghosts, except one who just kept swinging his feet back and forth in the same way that Klaus was doing. 

"Copycat," he stuck his tongue out at his brother. 

Ben stuck his tongue out as well, "Mature." 

"Yeah! I am! Thanks for noticing brother dearest," Klaus crossed his arms, pouting a bit. 

They sat on top of the dumpster for too long, both swinging their feet and glancing over at each other. 

His mind wandered, like it often did. 

Except it wasn't a pleasant wander, not a lovely evening stroll out on the town. 

No, his mind decided to go back to the one place he could never be free of. 

Gunfire, ghosts, visions, memories all circled around the alleyway. 

He couldn't tell what was real or fake as a particular ghost stumbled towards him. 

Not him. 

He couldn't be seeing him. 

Not here, not like this. 

Not when he seemed so angry at him. 

This couldn't be happening.

Klaus flinched at the hand touching his shoulder for a moment before realization sunk in. 

It was just Ben. 

Klaus tore his eyes from the alley, glancing over the newspaper, skimming it for anything interesting. 

There was absolutely nothing interesting. 

"The kid actually did get a coffee," Ben remarked from his perch on the dumpster. He said it in his typical talking to Klaus way, which was interesting. Perhaps the ghostie had forgotten his remarks would actually be noticed, or perhaps he didn't care. Ben was a bit of a wild card. 

Klaus lowered the newspaper he was skimming, "Staying sober. Good decision! Not the decision I would go for but hey! You know, good for you kid! I'm proud of you kiddo." 

"The next person to call me kid is going to end up dead. Capiche?" Five glared at both of them. 

His glare wasn't actually frightening, at least not to Klaus. 

Klaus had been told he had zero survival instincts though, which might play into his lack of fear. 

That was something to talk to the therapist about. 

As if he would ever see a therapist. 

That was fucking hilarious. 

Ben sighed, "Oh. You can still see me. That's going to take some time to get used to." 

"Someone has to learn not to make sassy remarks all the time," Klaus called out in a sing songy voice. 

It was fun teasing Ben about that, as Klaus still didn't know when people could see Ben or not. 

Ben crossed his arms, "I wouldn't have to make remarks if they weren't needed. Not to mention death threats don't work on me." 

"Yeah! Can we talk about that threat? Because ghostie boy is dead as can be, and God hates me, the absolute prick that she is, so I can't stay dead. Which means your threat really doesn't work here, Fivey!" Klaus exclaimed. 

Finally, something to tease Five about, besides the whole fucking a mannequin thin. 

Fresh content, something to get a reaction out of his little big brother. 

Five stared for a moment, "I have other threats that will make you wish I had just killed you." 

"What are you going to do?" Ben tilted his head slightly, but keeping the eye contact between him and Five. 

A challenge. 

An obvious sort of challenge. 

Klaus just watched as the tension between them built, this was just like when Luther and Diego fought, but more invigorating. 

He did love to watch after all. 

Five smirked slightly, "Six, you're a fool if you think being dead will save you." 

"What, you'll kick my ass? Klaus, don't," Ben continued staring, putting a hand up to stop Klaus from making a remark. 

The hand was ineffective. 

Klaus grinned, "Kinky." 

And it sort of was, this whole match up between them. A ghost and a child making their stand, asserting their dominance. 

Five shrugged, "If needed. Now, ignoring whatever bullshit Klaus is spewing about not being able to die since we don't have the time to get into that, did you find me a newspaper?" 

"Bullshit? It's not bullshit, God's a bitch," Klaus waved the newspaper he was holding for emphasis. 

Five teleported a foot, grabbed the newspaper, and teleported back to where he was standing, "At least you did one thing productive while I was gone." 

"Hey!" Klaus protested. 

Ben rolled his eyes, "You could have just walked." 

The nagging mother tone was in his voice. 

Klaus was so happy that it wasn't directed at him. 

For years the scolding had just been at him all the time. Don't do drugs Klaus, Klaus you're gonna get aids, acid is not a substitute for food, stop throwing your life away, why did you spend your money on a rabbit suit, you should try drinking water instead of drinking dick all the time, that donut was in the trash Klaus, don't eat literal garbage to prove a point. 

Okay some of those things that Ben had said were justifiable, but most of the time it was just him being all judgy and holier than thou cause he didn't eat food from a dumpster. 

Now it was nice to have someone else for Ben to mother. 

"It's 2016. That makes sense, especially since Klaus looks slightly younger," Five remarked, ignoring everything they had just said. 

Younger? 

2016? 

Shit. 

No no no. 

If he was in a younger body, a younger version of himself, he wouldn't have all the tattoos.

He wouldn't have Dave's tattoo.

This body wasn't the one that Dave had loved. 

Five had to be messing with him. 

Klaus felt his heart racing as he touched his face. 

The facial hair was barely there, leaving him mostly clean shaven. 

Klaus whined for lack of anything else to do since he knew that his brothers were expecting some sort of reaction, "Shit! I worked really hard on that. Why didn't you say anything, Ben?" 

"I didn't want to acknowledge the fact you look even more like a twink now," Ben remarked, staring at him in that analyzing way. 

Five muttered, "But what doesn't make sense is the rest of this article. Avengers? Sokovia Accords? There would have been mention of this happening." 

"What does that mean?" Ben turned towards Five. 

Five shook his head, "We're in a different dimension, one where we weren't the only superheroes in the world. I'm going to figure this out. Stay here. Ben make sure he's not a complete idiot while I'm gone." 

And with that, the oldest of the bunch jumped away. 

Different dimension? 

Did Dave even exist in this world? 

"You okay?" Ben asked quietly. 

Klaus put on his fake smile, one that worked on everyone except Ben the absolute bastard, "Of course I'm okay! Nothing like a brief trip to the apocalypse to make you feel peachy! Plus, do you see my skin? It's practically glowing with youth. I feel so energized." 

"Cut the bullshit. We don't have to talk about it but don't lie to me Klaus," Ben huffed. 

He shrugged, "Then let's not talk about it. Give me something else to talk about." 

"Well...I saw myself," the ghost responded, casually. 

In a mirror? 

No probably not in a mirror. 

Oh! 

Alternate dimension! 

Alternate Ben! 

Maybe a nice Ben!

Klaus looked around, "Here? Is there another Ben here?"

"No idea. I was talking about in the apocalypse. None of you were there from what I could tell. It was just me alone," he glanced down. 

Klaus closed his eyes, leaning against Ben, "Weird. You should've pointed him out to me. We could've gone and talked to him. Maybe he's the cool version of you." 

"I think that breaks the rules of time travel. Plus, I was busy saving your ass from being a human target," Ben sighed, running his cold fingers through Klaus' hair. 

This was nice. 

It was very nice. 

Even though Klaus was starting to feel exhausted, having Ben corporeal was basically worth it. 

Having someone platonically play with his hair was the absolute best, Ben had done this when they were kids and god did it feel so good. 

Klaus smiled slightly, opening his eyes a tad, "My hero! Saving the day with his fists of fury." 

"You're tired. Stop making me corporeal," Ben continued massaging Klaus' scalp. 

Klaus shook his head, "Five wants you around. Not me. I'm just the dumbass junkie, you're the one he actually wants to talk to. Plus, your fingers are absolutely magical." 

"I've never doing this again if you call my fingers magical."

Klaus sighed, "Please keep going, your fingers aren't magical, they're wonderful." 

"Still bad," Ben pointed out, "Five doesn't care about me, he cares about the apocalypse. Plus, if you get drained, neither of us are of use to him." 

He made a point. 

Which meant that Klaus had to move in order to not give himself a bigger headache by falling when Ben went ghost again.

Klaus rolled over slightly, off of Ben's lap, "Fine, fine. As soon as you're back to physical form, you have to play with my hair again." 

"Fine. I'll try to keep them away," Ben offered.

Klaus simply nodded in response, closing his eyes and giving himself to the inevitable nightmares. 

-

Five had ended up at a library, next to a piece of technology he had never seen before. 

It was labelled as a computer, but it absolutely did not look like what he would classify as a computer. 

He had had plenty of experience with modern technology. 

His job in the commission meant that he had to know everything about every time.

No one had this technology in 2019, much less 2016. 

This dimension had different tech, more advanced. 

It was interesting. 

He had to relearn everything about time he had ever known. 

Damn dimensional travel. 

If this technology was more advanced, surely it knew more. 

The internet would be more advanced as well then. 

Which meant that he would be able to find an answer to all of his questions. 

His fingers slowly touched the keys, typing in his first search. 

Vanya Hargreeves. 

43,692 results. 

Perfect. 

He found her facebook, some sort of website to connect with people, account almost immediately. 

26 year old, 3rd chair 1st violinist at a chamber orchestra, it's complicated, 4 friends. 

Why was there a complication next to relationship status? 

What did that mean? 

He checked her friends list, no one he recognized. 

None of their family, no Harold. 

There was also a red, orange, and pink flag behind her. 

He didn't recognize that country, perhaps this dimension's countries had ridiculous looking flags. 

Five did a quick reverse image search, to identify where that flag was from. 

Oh. 

His hypothesis was wrong. 

It did not belong to a country. 

Good for her. 

At least that meant that Harold would most likely not be in her life the same way around this time. 

He could make sure of that though, that Harold Jenkins did not pop up in his sister's life in anyway. 

That would be a quick enough detour. 

-

It had been hours since Klaus had passed out. 

Ben was appreciative that his brother was getting some much needed sleep for once in his life sure. Klaus had actually listened to him for once and was taking proper care of himself, if proper care could be defined as passed out in an alleyway on a dumpster. It was progress in the right direction. 

The next step would actually be getting him a place to stay at and maybe drinking water. 

Then they could work up to the three meals a day and eventual therapist. 

But actually sleeping was a great first step. 

He was extremely proud of his brother for sleeping. 

However, Klaus being asleep left Ben with absolutely nothing to do.

He wasn't corporeal, he could interact with nothing, he had no one to talk to, nothing to do until Five returned or Klaus woke up. 

Whichever came first. 

And neither of them seemed to be coming anytime soon. 

At least he didn't have Klaus making a remark about that thought. 

Minor blessing. 

Having nothing to do basically left the ghost sitting on the ground, rereading the section of the newspaper Five had had it opened to. It was an interesting article about how the Avengers had signed the Sokovia Accords, but some of them had not, leaving them war criminals. Then it had a thrilling account of a fight that ended up with a major injury and a prison break. 

It was interesting, however, he had absolutely no context for any of this. 

He had never heard of any of these people, given the fact that they were from an entirely different dimension. 

So it would probably be way more interesting if he knew anything at all about who these people were.

He got the basics, superhero team that broke up, what a totally weird concept that he could absolutely not relate to, but nothing much besides that. 

There were more pages of the article, but he would never be able to flip those pages. 

The side effects of being dead when your only connection to the living world was unconscious. 

Klaus was really good at flipping through books and articles for him. 

Possibly the only thing that Ben really asked for for himself, and the only thing that Klaus didn't complain about. 

They had some sort of agreement. 

But the agreement didn't work when Klaus was asleep, which was great for Klaus, but left Ben bored. 

Five chose the moment when Ben was rereading the article for possibly the 57th time to pop back in. 

Ben glanced up at the noise, greeting Five with a nod. 

Five took in the scene quickly, his eyes widening in panic for a moment before reverting to their usual masked state, "Ben?" 

"Here," Ben did a two finger wave, watching Five. 

His brother didn't respond. 

Because Ben was fully dead again. 

He had already forgotten that part. 

Being around Klaus so much had corrupted his only braincell. 

Five teleported to the dumpster, right next to the unconscious one, "You better not be dead Klaus. Last thing I need right now is two ghosts and no translator." 

"Don't," Ben sighed, rolling his eyes as he watched. 

Five grabbed Klaus' wrist, feeling for a pulse. 

The contact made Klaus' breathing speed up. 

After all, Klaus was unconscious, having nightmares, contact wasn't good for nightmares. 

This was descending into panic attack territory, which was never ideal.

He knew that Klaus was going to just freak out more if the contact continued, but being a fucking ghost, he had no way to communicate this. 

He was useless. 

Absolutely useless. 

Like always. 

Five grabbed Klaus' shoulders and started shaking him, "Klaus! You need to wake up damnit." 

The convulsions started at this point. 

Five needed to be removed from this situation, he was hurting Klaus. 

Klaus was in danger. 

Ben felt a pulling in his gut and lunged forward, ramming into Five to try and get Klaus some space. 

Perhaps if Five felt a chill, he would get the idea. 

He never expected to actually collide with Five. 

Both of them rolled off the dumpster, hitting the floor. 

Klaus had made him corporeal. 

Subconsciously. 

Way to save energy. 

"Goddamnit Klaus. You absolute piece of shit. I told you not to make me corporeal so you could rest, but here you are doing it even when you're not conscious you fucking prick. Way to save energy," Ben muttered, staying on the floor. 

Five raised an eyebrow, sitting up and staring at Ben, "You're a lot less nice than I remember as a kid." 

"Your best friend disappearing and then your own death does that to you," Ben remarked, glancing over at him. 

Five smirked, "It suits you. You've had to go through a lot of bullshit, I would be more concerned if you were still nice." 

"Still going through bullshit," Ben crossed his arms, standing up, "Don't touch him when he's not fully here or asleep. Ever. He's haunted by the ghosts and contact sends him into convulsions. I'll handle it." 

The smirk faded off of Five's face as he nodded, "Noted. I was not aware of this information." 

"How could you be? None of us were close to him until after you disappeared. And even then, I had to be dead for Klaus to have a serious conversation with me," Ben shrugged, not meeting Five's eyes. 

"How bad is he fucked up?"

Very. 

The answer was very.

Ben paused for a moment, "Let's just say that watching someone he loved die in Vietnam isn't even his worst memory." 

A pause. 

No acknowledgement. 

Five continued staring in his direction, "You're non-corporeal again. Wake up Klaus to translate." 

"Klaus. You need to wake up, the kid is back, and I don't feel like babysitting alone," Ben remarked, moving to where he was sitting right behind Klaus. 

His brother groaned, "Fuck off Ben, I'm tired." 

"Maybe you would have some energy if you didn't waste it all on being a dumbass," Ben crossed his arms again. 

Klaus opened his eyes slowly, whining as he did so, "Hey! That's mean, jackass!"

"Am I wrong?" Ben raised an eyebrow. 

His brother ignored that, sitting up straight, the only time he would do anything straight, and turning to Five, "What's this about information?"

"Let me know if Ben says anything. Besides that, don't interrupt me," Five turned to Klaus. 

"One human Ouiji board coming up," Klaus propped his head on his hands as he leaned forward, "Spill."

Five stared at them, "This dimension has us in it. Well...It has most of us in it. That doesn't matter though. What matters is that it has Vanya in it. And it had Harold Jenkins, but he's been taken care of. We need to connect with Vanya at some point to regulate her powers and make sure she doesn't start another apocalypse. Also, the Commission is working with an organization known as Hydra in this timeline, we'll have to completely destroy that organization before we get attention drawn to us for interfering with this timeline. Any questions?" 

Klaus glanced at Ben, not wanting to ask the questions he had. 

"Harold Jenkins is the asshole who manipulated Vanya and who Five apparently killed which is a little concerning. The Commission is the group that Five was a murder hobo with and the assholes who kidnapped you. I have no idea about Hydra. Ask him what he knows about that," Ben answered the silent question that Klaus practically radiated at him. 

Klaus nodded before tilting his head slightly, "Quick question, what exactly is Hydra?" 

"An actually relevant question, good. I don't know much about it. However, to learn more I need assistance to get into the largest database of information in existence. You see that tower over there?" Five gestured to the building towering over everything. 

Ben rolled his eyes, "Who doesn't?" 

"The sass wow. Who doesn't?" Klaus repeated, rolling his eyes. 

He sighed.

Klaus sighed in exactly the same way that Ben did. 

Ben crossed his arms, "Really? Copying me? That's so dumb." 

"But see my dearest brother, I am so dumb. I have to be act like myself after all!" Klaus grinned. 

He did not get paid enough for this shit. 

He didn't get paid at all. 

He should get paid. 

Not that he would have anything to buy but some compensation for this bullshit would be appreciated. 

Five rolled his eyes, "I don't want to know what's even happening. Both of you pay attention. We're breaking into Avenger's Tower for answers."

What?

He must have heard wrong.

"Oh goodie! I love breaking into places I didn't know existed," Klaus clapped his hands together. 

Oh. 

So he had heard correctly. 

Ben sighed, "This seems like a bad idea." 

"Nah, it'll be fine," Klaus place a hand on his shoulder. 

Ben watched it sink into his body before shaking his head, "I sincerely doubt it." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna hear your theories about what will happen in this fic in the comments, I love seeing what y'all think


	3. Chapter 3

Ben had mixed feelings about being dead. 

It was a complex situation.

Being dead meant no more pain and the Horror wasn't going to kill anyone, even though they still occasionally rumbled around in his stomach. 

It also meant that he didn't have control of anything. The feeling of helplessness, being useless, was prevalent in his mind at all times. 

He could never do anything. 

Had to go along with whatever Klaus did. 

It didn't even matter that he could communicate with Klaus, his brother did what he wanted. 

This was frustrating. 

However, there were moments where Ben was particularly glad to be dead. 

This was one of them. 

Being dead in this situation meant that he could sit back and watch Klaus and Five get arrested for breaking and entering without fear of being arrested himself. 

They didn't listen to him, he could sit back and watch them suffer. 

What else was a helpless ghost supposed to do after all when no one listened?

He would just be waiting for them to be behind bars before he would hit them with an 'I told you so' and disappear to visit Vanya. 

She existed in this dimension after all, and she would listen to him if she was able to. 

Unlike other siblings. 

Perhaps that was a bit petty, but his siblings had brought it upon themselves. 

They had come up with a sort of plan to break in the building. 

Five couldn't just jump in, the security was too powerful apparently, he would have to sneak in and jump into the heavily guarded room after destroying the technology. 

This wouldn't be a problem with Five. 

Ben knew that his oldest youngest brother was in fact capable. 

He could murder quite easily, his assassination skills, while worrying, were impressive. 

The problem came from Klaus. 

Five was really stealthy. 

Klaus was to stealth as Bambi was to ice. 

Hilarious but alarming, lots of limbs flailing, and not quiet in the slightest. 

It had only been a few minutes before the situation devolved into an argument. 

"You know what? I'll do this myself. I should've known you wouldn't be able to handle this," Five hissed at Klaus. 

Klaus pouted, "That hurts Fivey! Give me another chance." 

"Shut up." 

This developed into a full-blown stage whispered argument. 

Which wasn't surprising. 

Ben's attention was taking from the scene though at the sound of footsteps heading their way. 

He left them for a moment, going over to where he heard the sound. 

A security guard, a heavy set one that looked like he knew what he was doing. 

Not to mention he had what appeared to be a gun on him. 

Fuck. 

Usually, he would leave his siblings to suffer for their sins but he wasn't particularly happy with the idea of either of them getting shot. 

Which meant that he would have to warn them. 

"Klaus," Ben called out as he headed back to his side. 

Klaus shook his head, "Not now Ben." 

"One person incoming with a gun," Ben remarked shrugging. 

Klaus' eyes widened, whispering to Five, "We have company." 

Good. 

Now they would leave and hatch another plan. 

They didn't leave. 

Five tensed up but stayed still. 

Klaus just took a sidestep away from Five. 

God fucking damnit. 

They were not leaving. 

"We need to go," he crossed his arms. 

Klaus didn't acknowledge that, just watching Five. 

It was at this point the security guard made his presence known, "This is private property. You're trespassing, you need to get out of here." 

"Yes! Let's go while he gives us that option," he suggested. 

His suggestion was ignored. 

A pulse of blue light responded to his pleas. 

Within seconds, Five was holding the security guy's gun to his head, while simultaneously having him in a chokehold, "Here's what's going to happen big guy. You're going to tell me everything you know, or I'll blow your brains out. Capiche?" 

It was almost impressive. 

Well it was impressive, concerning and definitely going to end up in them being arrested and or killed, but impressive for sure. 

This situation was going to get worse. 

"Great. Just what we needed, Five has yet another gun," he remarked, rolling his eyes as he leaned back. 

Klaus nodded, "Yeah! Our little boy is a straight up killing machine. They grow up so fast! I'm so proud!" 

"You're proud," he repeated, his voice monotone. 

He would be incredulous if this wasn't exactly how he knew Klaus would react. His brother had never had normal reactions in his life. Ben could believe it, which was really the unfortunate part of this scenario. Ignoring the whole hostage situation that was happening of course. 

Klaus grinned, "Can I not be proud of my son? My kiddo? My pride and joy?"

"Not your son," Five hissed, "Information. Now. I won't say it again." 

The security guard used the momentary distraction, throwing Five to the ground. 

Before the 58 year old hit the ground, he jumped, landing on his feet, and taking the safety off. 

"Give me a reason to spare your life, or I'll end it right now," Five said calmly, his jaw clenching. 

Five was angry. 

Angry and with a gun. 

About to kill a man. 

Lovely. 

If only this situation could be avoided by perhaps not doing it. 

Or listening to some ghost who saw things that the alive folk didn't catch. 

Or something. 

There was a shame that no one could have helped in this situation.

Ben prepared himself to watch his kid brother shoot a man point blank. 

Which was apparently not going to happen as a blur entered the room. 

That was nice, refreshing. 

Highlight of his day was not seeing his brother murder. 

Except, it wasn't exactly a highlight. 

What wasn't particular nice was the robot, he thought it was a robot anyway, that was currently pointing a flickering repulsor at Five. 

It was interesting. 

Red and gold coloring, obviously some sort of weapon. 

Or at least it had weapons on it. 

It seemed lightweight, it was hovering in the air very easily. 

There was a sort of blue light in the middle, similar to Five's blue energy. 

He doubted it was the same though. 

What really interested him was how easily this metal robot was hovering. 

It must be made up of really lightweight materials. 

Perhaps something commonly used for aerospace.

The robot spoke, or something inside of it did, "I don't want to kill a kid, but unless you drop that gun and tell me what the fuck is happening, I don't really have a choice." 

Five stared at it, analyzing it in a similar way to how Ben had just looked at it. He was looking for weaknesses, ways to take it down. 

There was something about Five fighting a security guard that wasn't okay, but was allowed. 

He was absolutely not allowing Five to fight a fucking war robot though. 

Especially not one with the capability of flight. 

"Don't you fucking dare. That robot is made up of titanium alloy, it's as strong as steel with unknown flight and weapon capabilities. I swear to god Five," Ben muttered. 

Klaus passed on a message for once, "Don't do it, it's made up of titanium something so it's strong and it has unknowns and you don't stand a chance." 

"Oh, is that what it is? Nice work Ben," Five raised an eyebrow, putting the gun back on safety before tossing it to the ground. 

The robot's face peeled back, revealing a person underneath it. 

A suit of armor then. 

Interesting. 

Klaus rolled his eyes, "I could have said that. Ben isn't the only..." He trailed off as his eyes widened. 

Pansexual panic. 

He had just caught sight of the man's face behind the suit.

Ben sighed, "Really?" 

This was not the time. 

It really wasn't. 

"I didn't even say anything!" Klaus protested, crossing his arms. 

Ben raised an eyebrow, "Oh, was the sound of your jaw hitting the floor supposed to be subtle then?" 

"Tony Stark, isn't it? I need you to tell me everything you know about Hydra," Five interrupted, a small smile on his face. 

What an introduction. 

Ben sighed yet again. 

This was just going to get worse. 

-

The faceplate being removed was a good sign. 

One that hinted at a peaceful way to deal with this. 

He didn't particularly care about peace, but fighting took so long and it would be so inefficient to have to kill this man. Especially, since he was one of the most powerful "superheroes" in this dimension. That would just fuck over this dimension and take so much effort. 

Talking it out would be more constructive and more efficient. 

As long as Klaus didn't fuck it up. 

Which knowing his brother, he probably would. 

Currently, Klaus was being distracted by the face of Tony Stark and was being reprimanded by Ben, or some other ghost. 

He couldn't tell. 

At least someone was babysitting Klaus, while Five actually had an adult to adult conversation. 

He had weighed the pros and cons of bringing Klaus, the pros had barely won out with the concept of using him as a distraction and the added bonus of Ben. 

But perhaps, he had weighed wrong. 

After all, he could do this so much better by himself. 

At least he knew when he was going to fuck up his own plan. 

Stark's jaw stiffened, "I'm sorry, what? A kid breaks into my tower, threatens my security, to ask about an outdated Nazi organization? You can google what you need for your history presentation kid." 

Patronizing, 

Annoying. 

Uncooperative. 

Just like his siblings. 

"I've spent an extensive time looking up them, and while their extended history with Shield was interesting, I need insider information," he crossed his arms. 

Klaus called out a, "Yeah," before immediately falling back into an argument with a ghost. 

Mature. 

Incredibly helpful. 

He absolutely was not regretting bringing his little brother along. 

He should have gotten Vanya, trained her first. 

She would have been more useful.

And not looking idiotic over a conventionally attractive male. 

"Insider information? I don't work with Shield anymore. They fell apart. Plus, why do you need to know?" Stark crossed his arms as well. 

Five clenched his jaw, trying to work past his frustrations, "My siblings and I are currently in the process of stopping the apocalypse. To do so is going to put a target on our heads. I'd like to know more about the organization shooting at us." 

"What's this about an apocalypse?" Stark raised an eyebrow. 

He rolled his eyes, "A world ending event. I know the cause of it, I'm taking measures to prevent it. Preventing the apocalypse puts me in a bad position with an organization called the Commission. The Commission is working with your Hydra organization. Therefore, stopping the apocalypse and preventing your dimension from falling into ruin and everyone dying, means that Hydra will come after my family. Makes sense?"

A pause. 

"Who are you and why should I take any of the bullshit that just flowed out of your mouth seriously?" Stark stared at him. 

Five sighed. 

Klaus raised a hand, "Can I..."

"No. Is Ben saying something? If not, I don't want to hear it," Five stared at his brother. 

Klaus lowered his hand, "Rude. Have some respect for your elders." 

"While this is amusing, you haven't answered my question," Tony Stark spoke up. 

There were different ways of explaining this. 

The best idea would be giving him an identity and then following it with the dimension explanation. 

Tony Stark was supposed to be one of the brightest minds, in this dimension, so he should understand. 

He wasn't going to be an absolute moron. 

Five turned his focus to the man in the titanium suit, "Five Hargreeves at your service. That is unfortunately my brother Klaus." 

"Bonsoir!" Klaus exclaimed. 

Dumbass. 

Stark smirked slightly, "Your brother is a fun one. Apparently, the stick up the ass doesn't run in the family." 

"Oh I have plenty of other things up my ass! Wanna see?" 

Five blinked before shaking his head, "I should have never brought you here." 

He could almost feel Ben agreeing with him, or perhaps it was the need to have someone sane around. 

It was a shame that his brother with a brain-cell was dead. 

Truly unfortunate. 

That would be something to look into fixing. 

"Maybe later. Why does Hargreeves sound familiar?" Stark asked, glancing up for a moment. 

A female voice filled the air, his artificial intelligence Five had read about, "You've met an Allison Hargreeves before boss, she's a movie star." 

Really? 

A celebrity rather than a "superhero" team? Was that really what was relevant? 

He had given them his name and the artificial intelligence hadn't even looked into him or Klaus, but his movie star sister. 

It wasn't that intelligent after all. 

Perhaps technology had not progressed as far as he had assumed. 

"Thanks Fri, any relation?" He glanced back to Five. 

Five nodded slowly, "Yes but it doesn't matter. Have you heard of the Umbrella Academy?" 

This was going to be a process explaining all of this. 

And he was not looking forward to it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and thus the chaos begins


	4. Chapter 4

Klaus was tired of being sober.

Sure, sobriety was good and he was being healthy, but it fucking sucked. 

God fucking damnit Dave for making him want to be sober. 

God fucking damnit Dave for making him stick to the promise. 

Sure, he could relapse but he would feel bad. 

Even worse than he usually did. 

Stupid dead people he cared about, making him have a conscious. 

A conscious was overrated, he had lived so long without it. After all, he had Ben who basically was the ghost of Jiminy Cricket. 

But no, now he had to feel bad himself. 

Which fucking sucked. 

So yeah he was tired of this whole sobriety thing. 

Especially here. 

There were a lot of ghosts around, reaching towards him, screaming his name. 

He didn't mind people screaming his name but he preferred when they were living generally. 

He was into a lot of weird shit, but ghosts were not one of them. 

Well... 

These ghosts were not one of them. 

It wasn't as bad as the apocalypse, but also he didn't have Benny boy wrestling with ghosts to defend his honor. 

The ghosts were circling around Klaus, coming from the general direction of the table where Five, Ben, and handsome man sat. 

There were still a fair amount of ghosts, and he had a sneaking suspicion that they came from the handsome man who had emerged from the robot. 

It made sense to him. 

A lot of things made sense to him though that most people didn't understand. 

See, he had a way of deduction about him. He called himself a homosexual Sherlock Holmes, Ben had argued that the character of Sherlock Holmes was already gay several times, and by several times he meant several times, but his way of deduction often left people behind. 

They didn't get him. 

He was quirky like that. 

Klaus liked to call it his shortcut thinking, getting to a conclusion based off minimal evidence and gut feeling alone. 

Everyone else called it a homeless junkie mumbling random thoughts. 

Which it might be. 

Except, he didn't even have the junkie part of homeless junkie now. 

Unfortunate. 

Another downside to getting out of that life. 

People would be slightly incorrect when they dismissed him as a junkie that knew nothing now. 

Not like anyone would believe him that he was sober. 

The only people that would believe him would be the ghosts he wanted to get rid of so badly. 

He was used to that though. 

At least, Five believed Ben existed now. 

Even if it meant that Five only listened to Ben, at least he was listening to one of them. 

It was fine. 

Klaus never said anything important anyway, which was why he was reclining on the penthouse couch while the others sat at the table, having their oh so serious discussion. 

They were all talking about something, well Ben wasn't really talking about something but he was trying to best. 

He would've been interacting with them, but his translator was currently dying of sobriety. 

Plus, Klaus was misbehaving so he had to sit on the couch while everyone spoke about the situation. 

Cause god forbid he found one man attractive, which handsome man was really fucking attractive. 

It wasn't like Klaus would be going after him. 

He had his heart set on Dave and he doubted another man would ever have his heart. 

It belonged to Dave, and Dave alone. 

No matter if this was a body Dave had never touched, a dimension that he had never met Dave in, one where Dave had most likely died alone. 

Klaus needed a briefcase. 

That was the conclusion. 

That way the sobriety meant something. 

The ghosts leaned closer to him, wailing at him. 

"Personal space," he hissed, swatting away at the ghosts that came too close to him. 

No one got to be that close to him. 

Besides his family. 

And every person Klaus had slept with. 

And Dave. 

Ghosts didn't get Klaus rights, they had no right to be on him. 

They shouldn't get any rights. 

No rights for ghosts. 

That was a campaign slogan right there. 

Handsome man raised an eyebrow, "Is he okay?" 

"Klaus is never okay. Don't ask, it's just a waste of time. Back to what's important. What do I have to do to get it through your thick skull that dimensional travel exists? I've already explained my family situation," Five sighed, clenching his jaw. 

Klaus smirked at that. 

Grumpy old man. 

Handsome man shook his head, "You have to admit the fact that you three being the ones in your family that went missing is too insane to be a coincidence. It is convenient that you don't have alternate versions of yourself here." 

"Shall we dig up my brothers corpse? Would that help to convince you? I can get a shovel," Five shrugged. 

Handsome man blinked, "We're not digging up a corpse." 

"Then you believe that there is a corpse for my brother, which means that he died in this reality. Which means the fact that he is here, proves that we are from an alternate dimension," Five crossed his arms. 

Grave robbing? 

Huh. 

Klaus raised a hand, "How would digging up Ben help when we just have his ghost here?" 

"I'm not talking about Ben. Pay attention. We would be digging up your corpse, Klaus," Five rolled his eyes. 

Oh. 

He was dead here? 

Interesting. 

If he was dead while also being alive...could he summon himself? 

Talk with the ghost version of himself? 

That would be cool. 

Klaus lowered his hand and went back to tuning out the conversation. 

Which was rather easy with how the ghosts were fighting as they were. 

They could never be calm or chill for a moment. 

Always getting into fights. 

Diego was the ghost of humans then. 

He liked that comparison, he would have to remember that for when he next saw Diego. 

Whenever that would be. 

It might be a while, who knows what Five had planned. 

Hopefully, a beach day. 

He and Ben wanted to go to a beach. 

That would be nice. 

He glanced over at Ben to talk about that when he saw Ben tumble off the chair he was sitting in, falling into the ground before pulling himself back up. 

Klaus raised an eyebrows, "Really? Is this the time for acrobatics? We're having a serious conversation brother." 

"This asshole pushed me," Ben crossed his arms, after flipping off a nearby ghost. 

The ghost snarled, "I need him to help me." 

"Listen dude," Klaus placed his goodbye hand up, "we don't do the whole fighting thing here, okay? Behave dude." 

The ghost started roaring, "My name is Obadiah, not dude!" 

"Listen Obadiah dude, you need to calm down. I don't work for free. I'm not going to help you with whatever it is you want, so leave me the fuck alone," he sighed. 

Apparently, he was a bit louder than he thought was as handsome man turned to him. 

"What did you just say?" Handsome man demanded. 

Five sighed, "Good going Klaus." 

That was when everything went to hell, or even more to hell. 

Figuratively or perhaps literally, he couldn't tell. 

Hell probably was filled with the dead crowding towards him.

That would suck. 

The living swarmed towards him, demanding he explain why he said that name. 

The dead, finally fully understanding that he could hear them, swarmed towards him more, demanding that he help them. 

Overall, not a great time. 

It wasn't a fun mess, it was the type of mess that Klaus was way too sober to deal with. 

"One at a time please. Please wait until I call your number before coming to the reception window," he muttered to the group surrounding him. 

It was exhausting, everyone was way too loud. 

Not to mention the fact that he didn't know who was living or not. 

Especially, not when they approached him in the same way, all screaming at him. 

He hadn't paid attention to who Five had interacted with, now he couldn't tell who was alive or not. 

Or if anyone even was in this room. 

Handsome man, one of the living he was pretty sure, raised an eyebrow, "One at a time? I'm the only one demanding your attention right now." 

"Just leave him alone," Ben growled, moving to perch right over Klaus. 

His little ghost parrot, screaming at everyone who would listen. 

Klaus smirked slightly, ignoring the way his head was pulsing, "Ben baby, I appreciate this, but he can't hear you." 

"Not talking to Tony," the ghost crossed his arm, staring at the living. 

Five sighed, his hand resting upon his gun, "Fantastic job Klaus. Way to fuck everything up yet again." 

"Danke," Klaus muttered, sinking his head back into the couch and trying to tune out the screaming. 

Which wasn't working well. 

Handsome man was trembling like a leaf at this point, "Somebody needs to explain what the fuck is happening. Now. I'm not a patient man, chop chop." 

"My brother can speak to the dead. We all have powers. What part of ex superhero team do you not understand? What do I need to explain to you to get you to tell me the information I need?" Five crossed his arms, staring at Tony.

Ben sighed, "That's not going to work." 

"For some reason, I don't believe in little Cole Sear over here. In fact, I don't believe any of this bullshit. Time travel doesn't work in the way that you're describing. You would jump to a completely similar alternate timeline, not one that diverged so much," Handsome man matched the stare. 

There was obvious tension there. 

Five rolled his eyes, "I really thought you were supposed to be one of the brightest minds in this dimension. Apparently not. Obviously, instead of simply time travelling like I was supposed to do, my power opened a vortex and slid us across dimensions into this timeline." 

"You're really trying to convince me that you, a literal child, managed to rip a hole through a big ball of yarn known as the time space continuum and string theory your way here?" Tony raised an eyebrow. 

The older younger one nodded, "Yes. I wouldn't need to convince you if you were smarter." 

Damn, roasted. 

Klaus was about to say something to that effect when Five just caught his eye and held up a hand. 

Rude. 

Apparently, instead of just ignoring him, they were silencing him. 

He pouted instead, trying to ignore the ghosts screaming into his ears. 

Maybe Tony had drugs or at least a drink. It would be nice to not be so absolutely sober. 

If he was high right now, he could be eating waffles in peace. 

Warm, toasty waffles. 

Probably slightly burnt since Mom wasn't around and Five didn't seem to eat food. 

Had Five eaten anything since he came back? 

Did he need food? 

Probably yeah. 

He didn't know. 

Maybe he should check on his little big brother, make sure he was eating a balanced diet. 

Nah, Diego 'my body is a temple' would do that. He was good at irritating people to eat healthier. Or at least feel bad about what they ate. Or at least call people weak, though if he called Five weak, Five would probably murder him. '

Not that Klaus would be able to tell. 

He really couldn't tell if anyone was dead or alive, especially when he was this fUCKING SOBER.

It was almost hilarious that he couldn't tell the difference. 

A sick joke, a joke that god played on him, but a joke nonetheless. 

Everyone in this room could be dead, and he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

He knew that from experience. 

It had been three days from when Ben died until he realized that he was actually dead. And that was only because of the funeral. 

It was pretty fucked up, but so was life. 

Life was cruel, and God was crueler, damn her to hell. 

Could he damn God to hell? 

That was something to consider. 

A possibility. 

This was why God hated him with a burning passion. 

His mind was running away from him again, that much was clear. 

Which was weird because he was calm. He wasn't panicking from the ghosts. It wasn't like the walls were closing in on him and his hands were shaking. He was absolutely calm. 

He looked down. 

Okay, his hands were shaking. That was just a coincidence. 

It didn't mean anything. 

He was fine, always fine. 

He heard his name, not being screamed. 

Klaus looked up, glancing at Five. 

"Klaus. Make one his ghost corporeal," Five ordered. 

Ben shook his head, "No. That's a bad idea. There's too many ghosts around, you're too weak to be able to control it." 

"Ouch," Klaus placed a hand on his heart. 

Five pulled out his gun. 

Okay. 

Corporeal. 

He could do this, he absolutely could. 

Ben sighed, "I swear to god." 

"It's fine Ben! Have faith in me. Nothing's going to go wrong," Klaus grinned, concentrated. 

He focused his power on one ghost, feeling the blue energy leave his hands and circle around the ghost. 

He had done it. 

Klaus wasn't just a fuck up. 

It was going to be okay. 

It didn't matter that his head was pulsing, his heart was racing, and black spots were filling his vision. 

His heart raced, speeding up faster than he thought was possible. 

Okay maybe it wasn't fine. 

His eyes rolled back into his head as his heart stopped. 

Whoops. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put so many tiktok references in my writing, I am but a placer of references into my humble story  
> also, I'm high while writing this, which I think explains a lot

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the rewrite, I hope it's everything you've expected and more and if not well...rip?
> 
> And to all my new readers who didn't get to see the original, howdy! You're in for quite the surprise. It's going to be a wild ride to say the least.


End file.
